Field Research Courses in Marine Mammals Science.

Each year the BDRI offers a number of unique opportunities for everyone to join us in O Grove, Galicia as participants in our field research courses. The BDRI Field Research Courses (FRC) provide an in-depth, hands-on immersion into the field of marine mammals science and more particularly dolphins research. These academically intensive training courses are developed with varied curricular designs and varied instructional strategies in order to meet specific learning goals. This program surveys an extensive amount of knowledge, theories and on-going investigations concerning bottlenose dolphins, their environment and related subjects.

These training courses are specifically designed for students (undergraduate and postgraduate), researchers, and seriously interested people with a focus on pursuing a career in marine mammals science in the future.

Courses are participatory in nature and are designed to stimulate inquiry and active learning. The exclusive FRC learning model helps students to connect the conceptual material presented in each course to case studies, learn field research techniques, collect and analyse field data, and develops holistic and critical thinking skills.

The FRC courses are run in a standard form of an 10-day educational placement (special 14h courses can be held in a intensive weekend placement), and as a trainee with the BDRI you will learn and apply the principles of field research design (accompanied by structured lectures and field tuition) and gain a personal understanding of the conservation issues which drive the research and conservation activities of this small but dedicated institute. The FRC are divided in three exclusive training courses. Please click on each one of them for more information.

So, if you want to be a part of this unique experience and are a person who is interested in going abroad and obtaining hands-on experience in dolphins research, boat based field work, intensive training while having fun and meeting people from all over the world, then you should consider to participate in one of our programs.

The BDRI is a research institute dedicated to the understanding and conservation of cetaceans and the marine environment in which they live. The Institute's BDRI centre was originally founded in Sardinia, Italy in 2005. However, since 2014 we have opened a new facility in our original location in O Grove; on the shores of Arousa Firth, Southern Galicia in Spain. This transformation has considerably improved our ability to care for and study marine mammals, providing a collaborative work environment for staff, students and volunteers from all over the world. Our research programs have helped us to understand the threats facing the dolphins and to develop strategies to manage these threats. Any reproduction of the photographs, art, or other contents is prohibited without written permission.